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Category: News

Countless times in the news, especially in recent years, we hear about countless tragic celebrity deaths. Yes, it is quite the tragedy which is countlessly portrayed by many of the major media networks. However, the fashion in which it is reported is subjectively classless, especially when considering the “credibility” of said news networks.

As seen in the picture above, the New York Times had put out an article titled, “Chris Cornell, Soundgarden and Audioslave Frontman, Dies at 52.” Seems harmless enough to a numbed society to this type of celebrity death. However, I take great issue with this and the network’s inability to take advertisements away from the article. Maybe its just me being overly offended by something like this, but if I were to die, I would like to know that I wasn’t being made into the next money-making story. And, obviously, this would change if ad revenue made on the story was donated to my loved ones. However, nowhere in the NY Times article do I see a disclaimer supporting this (if I am wrong about this, please let me know because I don’t want to be right). It is a real shame that in a society with unprecedented media distrust that this type of thing goes unquestioned.

I do not want to make this solely about the Times because if the NY Times is doing this, then I can guarantee that other major news outlets are on their coattails. Without any research I could definitively say this. And this exists in all forms of news. On the television, for example, the network won’t postpone advertisements when announcing the deaths of any person, celebrity or not. And my main point isn’t that reporters should be barred payment for writing these articles. My goal in writing this is to shed light on an issue that has been vastly, and wrongly, numbed to society.

This year’s E3 was a pleasant surprise. All major companies (besides EA) had, subjectively, successful and entertaining conferences.

For those unaware, E3 is a 5-day event where the next big video game titles are announced. The companies which have big announcements that usually last more than an hour or so include Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Bethesda, and EA (Nintendo is also considered a big company, but they present their announcements in live streams).

EAwas the first to present their new games, and they had set the bar incredibly low. They showed little to no gameplay in their trailers, focusing on, yet again, sports titles which included FIFA 17 and Madden 17. EA also showed a few teaser quality trailers of Mass Effect 4 and Battlefield 1. The only highlights of their announcement was Fe, an indie title which appeared to look like a 3D platformer with puzzle elements. The only other highlight came after their actual conference, where they had streamed 3 matches of Battlefield 1. Titanfall 2 was also intriguing, with a confirmed campaign which seemed really neat.

My thoughts- EA, despite their focus on showing fans Star Wars DLC and other padding to make a 10 minute conference last an hour, still managed to make me excited. Battlefield 1, particularly the gameplay they displayed after, was really promising. Titanfall 2 campaign is exciting, even though the game looks exactly the same. Also the Mass Effect trailer had made me optimistic for the game’s future. It was, however, way too long for the amount of actual gameplay they had shown.

In Summary- DICE, your our (EA’s) only hope!

Bethesdawas next to show their presentation. Spoiler: It was, obviously, better than its predecessor’s. The showcase showed games like Doom and Fallout 4 DLC and updates. More surprisingly, Bethesda announced VR-compatibility with both of these games in the future. They also showed a lot of gameplay for Dishonored 2 and had shown a trailer for a sequel/new ip called PREY.

My thoughts- Bethesda was, again, quite successful with their presentation. Dishonored 2 is probably the thing which I am most excited for. In fact, I am playing the first Dishonored just because of the trailer. PREY was intriguing as well, even though I am not a big fan of horror anything. Fallout and Doom DLC seemed kind of lame to me, but maybe Fallout/Doom fans have a differing opinion. Fallout Shelter being on PC and now having a “Combat System,” is a nice bow on top of their solid conference.

In Summary- Arkane Studios has got a lot of work to do, although it all seems promising.

Microsoft was the first to present the day after Bethesda and EA. Microsoft started with the announcement of the Xbox One S, a slimmer version of the Xbox One. They then went through some new features on the Xbox One, notably Esports bracketing support and Cross play capabilities with Windows 10. Major games they showed included Gears of War 4, Sea of Thieves, Forza, State of Decay 2, Halo Wars 2, Dead Rising 4, We Happy Few and Recore. Other games were discussed, like indie titles which are mostly all seen already on PC. At the end of the conference, Microsoft announced Project Scorpio, a more powerful Xbox One.

My Thoughts- Microsoft had a good showcase of their product. The idea of cross-play capabilities for future Xbox games is interesting, particularly with games like Gears of War 4 and Halo Wars 2 which were at one time likely to be Xbox exclusive. Microsoft seemed to be much more friendly toward the consumer with this idea amongst other pro-consumer plans. Sea of Thieves, We Happy Few, Recore are all a breath of fresh air from the sheer amount of shooting and zombies Microsoft had shown. Project Scorpio is something I am skeptical of, because they say that any game on the Project Scorpio is playable on older Xbox One consoles. However, the games will start to be made for the Project Scorpio and more of an afterthought on the previous consoles, so will it be ported nicely or will it be more akin to Black Ops 3, which, on Xbox 360, only had a poorly looking multiplayer mode.

In Summary- Microsoft and skepticism. Two words completely dependent of one another.

PC Gamer had a little show as well, which was interesting, but was mainly filled with updates to games which are old and not as popular anymore (i.e. ARK survival). Also showed future Steam games like Lawbreakers, which were interesting as well, but personally does not peak my interest. Because of this, I am not going to talk as much about this E3 presentation.

Ubisoft had their presentation near the end of the PC gaming show. Ubisoft had started their show in an interesting manner. They had a dance group with wild, flamboyant costumes do an equally wild and flamboyant dance. Then, Aisha Taylor, the host of the Ubisoft conference, had a memorial for the Orlando Shooting victims. It was just unclassy and not well planned or thought out. Anyways, the major games they showed were Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, Watch Dogs 2, For Honor, Steep, Trials of the Blood Dragon, Just Dance 2017 (reason for the aforementioned dance), and South Park: Fractured But Whole.

My Thoughts- Ubisoft, despite their lack of class, had anounced some really intriguing games, such as For Honor and Steep. Their other games had focused on shooting mainly, like their most infamous titles Tom Clancy and Watch Dogs. Personally, I do not care for either, but others probably do. To be fair, Watch Dogs 2 does look a lot more impressive than the previous. South Park:Fractured But Whole also was a highlight of their presentation. The rest was kind of bland.

In Summary- Thank you for showing gameplay, however the gameplay itself was, subjectively, a bore.

Sony was the last to showcase their games. The games they showed included Horizon: Zero Dawn, God of War, Days Gone, Death Stranded, Resident Evil 7, The Last Guardian, Spiderman, and a Crash Bandicoot Revival. They really only showed gameplay, with a mentioning of PlayStation VR release date and price.

My Thoughts– The best E3 conference of them all. The games all seemed interesting and mostly all had gameplay, with the exception to Crash, Spiderman, and Death Stranded. I was specifically impressed with Days Gone, Horizon:Zero Dawn, and God of War. Also, Spiderman and Death Stranded have credibility with Insomniac and Kojima behind their development, respectively. The gameplay they showed was interesting, but they had shown zero indie games, aside from Last Guardian which will likely be sold as a major title anyways.

In Summary- Finally, a Sony conference that only lasts an hour AND is really entertaining.

Nintendo had streamed their games with gameplay the next two days after Sony and company. The games they had announced during the E3 timeframe included Legend of Zelda:Breath of the Wild, Pokemon Sun/Moon, Paper Mario: Color Splash, Monster Hunter:Generations, Yokai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls/Bony Spirits, Mario Party 3DS, and Pokemon GO. No word on the NX, Nintendo’s upcoming console.

My Thoughts- On Nintendo’s format, I appreciate it, however I wish they also had a small Nintendo Direct as well to show exactly what it is they are releasing. When I went to periodically view the stream, all I would see was the new Legend of Zelda. The games themselves are interesting. Paper Mario, to be specific, is something I am especially excited about due to a new combat system and my overall satisfaction with the series on Nintendo consoles. Pokemon GO and Sun/Moon are also exciting for more obvious reasons. Legend of Zelda was different, however I am skeptical at this moment. The rest is kind of disappointing, but this was still leagues better than last year’s announcements.

In Summary- NX?

In conclusion, I hope you had an enjoyable E3. I would like to mention that if E3 is not entertaining for you, then watching a restream of an E3 conference is entertaining for me. I personally watched NerdCubed and TotalBiscuit this E3 on Twitch, and I must say that it was much more entertaining this way. Anyways, Thank you for reading. Hope it was enjoyable to read. Have a good one.